Systems, methods and apparatus for multivariate authentication

ABSTRACT

Systems, methods, and apparatus are disclosed for user authentication using a plurality of authentication variables, such as biometrics and contextual data. Example contextual data includes the geographical location of the user, a gesture of the user, and the machine identification of the individual&#39;s user device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patentapplication Ser. No. 61/621,728, filed on Apr. 9, 2012, entitled“SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MULTIVARIATE AUTHENTICATION,” the disclosure ofwhich is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

User authentication has become increasingly of interest as Internet andnetwork-based computer usage have become more prevalent and capabilitiesof these media have grown. The significance of user authentication hasalso increased as businesses, government departments, medicalorganizations and individuals have become increasingly reliant oncomputer networks and on the security of proprietary informationtransmitted across networks to users of computing devices.

SUMMARY

In accordance with one embodiment, a computer-based method ofauthenticating is provided. The method comprises receiving a request forauthentication of a user. The request for authentication comprisesbiometric feature of the user collected by a user device and contextualdata from the user device. The method also comprises comparing thebiometric feature of the user to baseline biometric feature of the user,comparing the contextual data to an expected contextual data value, anddetermining whether to authenticate the user based on the comparison ofthe biometric feature of the user to the baseline biometric feature ofthe user and the comparison of the contextual data to the expectedcontextual data value.

In accordance with another embodiment a computer-based authenticationsystem is provided. The system comprises a baseline image database, acontextual data database, and an authentication computing system. Theauthentication system is configured to receive a request forauthentication of a user from a user device. The request forauthentication comprises an image of the user and contextual data. Theauthentication system is also configured to compare the image of theuser to a baseline image of the user stored in the baseline imagedatabase, compare the contextual data to an expected contextual datavalue stored in the contextual data database, and determine whether toauthenticate the user based on the comparison of the biometric featureof the user to the baseline image of the user and the comparison of thecontextual data to the expected contextual data value.

In accordance with another embodiment a non-transitory computer readablemedium having instructions stored thereon is provided. When theinstructions are executed by a processor, they cause the processor toreceive a request for authentication of a user. The request forauthentication comprises an image of the user collected by a user deviceand contextual data from the user device. When the instructions areexecuted by a processor, they also cause the processor to compare theimage of the user to a baseline image of the user, compare thecontextual data to an expected contextual data value and determinewhether to authenticate the user based on the comparison of thebiometric feature of the user to the baseline image of the user and thecomparison of the contextual data to the expected contextual data value.

In accordance with another embodiment a non-transitory computer readablemedium having instructions stored thereon is provided. When theinstructions are executed by a processor, they cause the processor toreceive from a first user device via a network communication a networkpacket comprising an electronic data file and recipient biometrics andreceive from a second user device via network communication biometricdata obtained from a user of the second user device. When the biometricdata obtained from the use of the second user device matches therecipient biometrics, the electronic data file is permitted to beaccessed on the second user device.

In accordance with yet another embodiment a method of electronicallysharing data is provided. The method comprises identifying an electronicfile, providing biometrics associated with a recipient, providingcontextual data associated with a recipient, causing the electronic fileto be encrypted based on the provided biometrics and the providedcontextual data and causing the transmission of the encrypted withanother embodiment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure will be more readily understood from a detaileddescription of some example embodiments taken in conjunction with thefollowing figures:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example authentication computing system thatreceives and process identity-based information for use authorization.

FIGS. 2A-2L schematically illustrate various forms of information thatmay be sent to an authentication computing system via an image inaccordance with various non-limiting embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates a user device capturing an image of a user inaccordance with one non-limiting embodiment.

FIGS. 4A-4D illustrate various image analysis techniques in accordancewith non-limiting embodiments.

FIGS. 5A-5D show example images provided to an authentication computingsystem.

FIG. 6 shows a user authentication process in accordance with onenon-limiting embodiment.

FIGS. 7A-7B depict example moving image scans.

FIG. 7C illustrate an example process flow associated with a movingimage scan.

FIG. 8A illustrates an example moving image scan.

FIG. 8B illustrates an example process flow associated with a movingimage scan utilizing multi-colored strobing.

FIGS. 9-10 illustrate example authentication processes utilizingmulti-image acquisition processes.

FIG. 11 illustrates an authentication computing system that comprises alocal authentication computing system and a remote authenticationcomputing system.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example data transferring technique utilizing anauthentication computing system.

FIG. 13 illustrates an authentication process for a computing deviceusing a color signature in accordance with one non-limiting embodiment.

FIG. 14 illustrates an authentication process for an authenticationcomputing system using a color signature in accordance with onenon-limiting embodiment.

FIG. 15 illustrates an authentication process for a computing device inaccordance with one non-limiting embodiment.

FIG. 16 illustrates an authentication process of an authenticationcomputing system in accordance with one non-limiting embodiment.

FIG. 17 illustrates an authentication process in accordance with onenon-limiting embodiment.

FIG. 18A illustrates an example message flow diagram for a registrationprocess.

FIG. 18B illustrates an example message flow diagram for anauthentication process.

FIG. 19A illustrates an example simplified block diagram for a userregistration process.

FIG. 19B illustrates an example simplified block diagram for a userauthentication process.

FIG. 20A illustrates an example process for registering a user with anauthentication computing system.

FIG. 20B illustrates an example process for authenticating a registereduser of an authentication computing system.

FIG. 21 illustrates an example block diagram of a communication system.

FIG. 22 illustrates a system flow diagram for photo cloaking utilizingbiometric key generation.

FIG. 23 illustrates an example biometric encryption system flow diagram.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure will now bedescribed to provide an overall understanding of the principles of thestructure, function, and use of the authentication systems and processesdisclosed herein. One or more examples of these non-limiting embodimentsare illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Those of ordinary skill inthe art will understand that systems and methods specifically describedherein and illustrated in the accompanying drawings are non-limitingembodiments. The features illustrated or described in connection withone non-limiting embodiment may be combined with the features of othernon-limiting embodiments. Such modifications and variations are intendedto be included within the scope of the present disclosure.

The presently disclosed embodiments are generally directed to useridentification and authorization. Such systems and methods may beimplemented in a wide variety of contexts. In one example embodiment,the presently disclosed systems and methods allow the identity of a userof a computing device to be authenticated. The user may be authenticatedthough a multivariate platform, as described in more detail below. Insome embodiments, the authentication process may process an imagesupplied by the computing device to the authentication computing system.The process may utilize a biometric attribute of the user along with oneor more additional authentication variables in order to confirm anidentity of the user. The image may, for example, include a usergesture, a flash burst, or other authentication variable. The gesture,the relative location of the gesture, and/or the relative location ofthe flash may be compared to a baseline image as part of theauthentication process. In some implementations, contextual dataassociated with the image may be processed as part of the authenticationprocess. Such contextual data (sometimes referred to as “metadata”) mayinclude, without limitation, a machine ID, device data, orgeographical/locational information. As described in more detail below,contextual data may also include data obtained from sensors onboard auser computer device. Example sensors include accelerometers,magnetometers, proximity sensors, and the like. Such sensors may providecontextual data such as movement data and user device orientation data,for example.

In some example embodiments, a computing device may display a particularcolor on its graphical display screen during an authentication process.The particular color may have been provided to the computing device byan authentication system. The image subsequently provided to theauthentication computing system by the computer device may include animage of the user with the particular color reflected off of facialfeatures of a user to form a color signature. Along with biometricalfacial features of the user, the particular color present in the imageand the color signature may be analyzed by an authentication computingsystem to provide user authentication.

In some example embodiments, at least some of the communication betweena computing device and an authentication computing system is encryptedusing any suitable encryption technique. In one example embodiment,chaos-based image encryption may be used, although this disclosure isnot so limited. Additional details regarding chaos-based imageencryption may be found in “Chaos-Based Image Encryption” by Yaobin Maoand Guaron Chen (available athttp://www.open-image.org/725publication/journal/CBIE.pdf), which isincorporated herein by reference. In one example embodiment, imagesprovided to the authentication computing system by a computing deviceare encrypted though a pixel-rotation technique, a codec watermarkingtechnique, and/or other encrypting technique.

Generally, the presently disclosed systems and methods may authenticatea user before giving the user access to a mobile computer device, accessto an application on a computer device, access to a building or otherstructure, access to a web portal, access to any other type of computingdevice, access to data, or access to any other secured virtual orphysical destination. The authentication can be based on a combinationof biometric analysis and contextual data analysis, with the contextualdata based on a user device of the user seeking authentication.Therefore, the presently disclosed systems and methods generally bindman and machine to effectuate the authentication paradigms described inmore detail below.

Reference throughout the specification to “various embodiments,” “someembodiments,” “one embodiment,” “some example embodiments,” “one exampleembodiment,” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature,structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodimentis included in at least one embodiment. Thus, appearances of the phrases“in various embodiments,” “in some embodiments,” “in one embodiment,”“some example embodiments,” “one example embodiment, or “in anembodiment” in places throughout the specification are not necessarilyall referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particularfeatures, structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitablemanner in one or more embodiments.

Referring now to FIG. 1, one example embodiment of the presentdisclosure may comprise an authentication computing system 100 thatreceives and processes identity-based information to execute userauthorization. The authentication computing system 100 may be providedusing any suitable processor-based device or system, such as a personalcomputer, laptop, server, mainframe, or a collection (e.g., network) ofmultiple computers, for example. The authentication computing system 100may include one or more processors 116 and one or more computer memoryunits 118. For convenience, only one processor 116 and only one memoryunit 118 are shown in FIG. 1. The processor 116 may execute softwareinstructions stored on the memory unit 118. The processor 116 may beimplemented as an integrated circuit (IC) having one or multiple cores.The memory unit 118 may include volatile and/or non-volatile memoryunits. Volatile memory units may include random access memory (RAM), forexample. Non-volatile memory units may include read only memory (ROM),for example, as well as mechanical non-volatile memory systems, such as,for example, a hard disk drive, an optical disk drive, etc. The RAMand/or ROM memory units may be implemented as discrete memory ICs, forexample.

The memory unit 118 may store executable software and data forauthentication engine 120. When the processor 116 of the authenticationcomputing system 100 executes the software of the authentication engine120, the processor 116 may be caused to perform the various operationsof the authentication computing system 100, such as send information toremote computer devices, process information received from remotecomputer devices, and provide authentication information to the remotecomputer devices, as discussed in more detail below. Data used by theauthentication engine 120 may be from various sources, such as abaseline image database 124, which may be an electronic computerdatabase, for example. The data stored in the baseline image database124 may be stored in a non-volatile computer memory, such as a hard diskdrive, a read only memory (e.g., a ROM IC), or other types ofnon-volatile memory. Also, the data of the database 124 may be stored ona remote electronic computer system, for example. Machine ID database126, which may be an electronic computer database, for example, may alsoprovide used by the authentication engine 120. The data stored in themachine ID database 126 may be stored in a non-volatile computer memory,such as a hard disk drive, a read only memory (e.g., a ROM IC), or othertypes of non-volatile memory. Also, the data of the Machine ID database126 may be stored on a remote electronic computer system, for example.In some embodiments, the Machine ID database comprises mobile equipmentidentification (MEID) numbers, Electronic Serial Numbers (ESN), and/orother suitable identifying indicia that may be used to identifyelectronic devices. While machine ID database 126 is illustrated asstoring expected contextual data related to an identifier of a userdevice, it is to be appreciated that other embodiments may utilize otherdatabases configured to store other forms of expected contextual data(expected movement data, expected geolocational data, expected magneticdata, and so forth) that may be compared to contextual data receivedfrom a user device during an authentication process.

The authentication computing system 100 may be in communication withuser devices 102 via an electronic communications network (not shown).The communications network may include a number of computer and/or datanetworks, including the Internet, LANs, WANs, GPRS networks, etc., andmay comprise wired and/or wireless communication links. In some exampleembodiments, an authentication system API is used to pass informationbetween the user devices 102 and the authentication computing system100. The user devices 102 that communicate with the authenticationcomputing system 100 may be any type of client device suitable forcommunication over the network, such as a personal computer, a laptopcomputer, or a netbook computer, for example. In some exampleembodiments, a user may communicate with the network via a user device102 that is a combination handheld computer and mobile telephone,sometimes referred to as a smart phone. It can be appreciated that whilecertain embodiments may be described with users communication via asmart phone or laptop by way of example, the communication may beimplemented using other types of user equipment (UE) or wirelesscomputing devices such as a mobile telephone, personal digital assistant(PDA), combination mobile telephone/PDA, handheld device, mobile unit,subscriber station, game device, messaging device, media player, pager,or other suitable mobile communications devices. Further, in someexample embodiments, the user device may be fixed to a building,vehicle, or other physical structure.

Some of the user devices 102 also may support wireless wide area network(WWAN) data communications services including Internet access. Examplesof WWAN data communications services may include Evolution-DataOptimized or Evolution-Data only (EV-DO), Evolution For Data and Voice(EV-DV), CDMA/1xRTT, GSM with General Packet Radio Service systems(GSM/GPRS), Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution (EDGE), High SpeedDownlink Packet Access (HSDPA), High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA),and others. The user device 102 may provide wireless local area network(WLAN) data communications functionality in accordance with theInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.xx seriesof protocols, such as the IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n series of standardprotocols and variants (also referred to as “Wi-Fi”), the IEEE 802.16series of standard protocols and variants (also referred to as “WiMAX”),the IEEE 802.20 series of standard protocols and variants, and others.

In some example embodiments, the user device 102 also may be arranged toperform data communications functionality in accordance with shorterrange wireless networks, such as a wireless personal area network (PAN)offering Bluetooth® data communications services in accordance with theBluetooth®. Special Interest Group (SIG) series of protocols,specifications, profiles, and so forth. Other examples of shorter rangewireless networks may employ infrared (IR) techniques or near-fieldcommunication techniques and protocols, such as electromagneticinduction (EMI) techniques including passive or active radio-frequencyidentification (RFID) protocols and devices.

The user device 102 may comprise various radio elements, including aradio processor, one or more transceivers, amplifiers, filters,switches, and so forth to provide voice and/or data communicationfunctionality. It may be appreciated that the user device 102 mayoperate in accordance with different types of wireless network systemsutilize different radio elements to implement different communicationtechniques. The user device 102 also may comprise various input/output(I/O) interfaces for supporting different types of connections such as aserial connection port, an IR port, a Bluetooth® interface, a networkinterface, a Wi-Fi interface, a WiMax interface, a cellular networkinterface, a wireless network interface card (WNIC), a transceiver, andso forth. The user device 102 may comprise one or more internal and/orexternal antennas to support operation in multiple frequency bands orsub-bands such as the 2.4 GHz range of the ISM frequency band for Wi-Fiand Bluetooth® communications, one or more of the 850 MHz, 900 MHZ, 1800MHz, and 1900 MHz frequency bands for GSM, CDMA, TDMA, NAMPS, cellular,and/or PCS communications, the 2100 MHz frequency band forCDMA2000/EV-DO and/or WCDMA/JMTS communications, the 1575 MHz frequencyband for Global Positioning System (GPS) operations, and others.

The user device 102 may provide a variety of applications for allowing auser to accomplish one or more specific tasks using the authenticationcomputing system 100. Applications may include, without limitation, aweb browser application (e.g., INTERNET EXPLORER, MOZILLA, FIREFOX,SAFARI, OPERA, NETSCAPE NAVIGATOR) telephone application (e.g.,cellular, VoIP, PTT), networking application, messaging application(e.g., e-mail, IM, SMS, MMS, BLACKBERRY Messenger), contactsapplication, calendar application and so forth. The user device 102 maycomprise various software programs such as system programs andapplications to provide computing capabilities in accordance with thedescribed embodiments. System programs may include, without limitation,an operating system (OS), device drivers, programming tools, utilityprograms, software libraries, application programming interfaces (APIs),and so forth. Exemplary operating systems may include, for example, aPALM OS, MICROSOFT OS, APPLE OS, UNIX OS, LINUX OS, SYMBIAN OS, EMBEDIXOS, Binary Run-time Environment for Wireless (BREW) OS, JavaOS, aWireless Application Protocol (WAP) OS, and others.

In general, an application may provide a user interface to communicateinformation between the authentication computing system 100 and the uservia user devices 102. The user devices 102 may include variouscomponents for interacting with the application such as a display forpresenting the user interface and a keypad for inputting data and/orcommands. The user devices 102 may include other components for use withone or more applications such as a stylus, a touch-sensitive screen,keys (e.g., input keys, preset and programmable hot keys), buttons(e.g., action buttons, a multidirectional navigation button, preset andprogrammable shortcut buttons), switches, a microphone, speakers, anaudio headset, a camera, and so forth. Through the interface, the usersmay interact with the authentication computing system 100.

The applications may include or be implemented as executable computerprogram instructions stored on computer-readable storage media such asvolatile or non-volatile memory capable of being retrieved and executedby a processor to provide operations for the user devices 102. Thememory may also store various databases and/or other types of datastructures (e.g., arrays, files, tables, records) for storing data foruse by the processor and/or other elements of the user devices 102.

As shown in FIG. 1, the authentication computing system 100 may includeseveral computer servers and databases. For example, the authenticationcomputing system 100 may include one or more web servers 122 andapplication servers 128. For convenience, only one web server 122 andone application server 128 are shown in FIG. 1, although it should berecognized that this disclosure is not so limited. The web server 122may provide a graphical web user interface through which users of thesystem may interact with the authentication computing system 100. Theweb server 122 may accept requests, such as HTTP requests, from clients(such as web browsers on the device 102), and serve the clientsresponses, such as HTTP responses, along with optional data content,such as web pages (e.g., HTML documents) and linked objects (such asimages, etc.).

The application server 128 may provide a user interface for users who donot communicate with the authentication computing system 100 using a webbrowser. Such users may have special software installed on their userdevices 102 that allows them to communicate with the application server128 via the network. Such software may be downloaded, for example, fromthe authentication computing system 100, or other software applicationprovider, over the network to such user devices 102. The software mayalso be installed on such user devices 102 by other means known in theart, such as CD-ROM, etc.

The servers 122, 128 may comprise processors (e.g., CPUs), memory units(e.g., RAM, ROM), non-volatile storage systems (e.g., hard disk drivesystems), etc. The servers 122, 128 may utilize operating systems, suchas Solaris, Linux, or Windows Server operating systems, for example.

Although FIG. 1 depicts a limited number of elements for purposes ofillustration, it can be appreciated that the authentication computingsystem 100 may include more or less elements as well as other types ofelements in accordance with the described embodiments. Elements of theauthentication system 100 may include physical or logical entities forcommunicating information implemented as hardware components (e.g.,computing devices, processors, logic devices), executable computerprogram instructions (e.g., firmware, software) to be executed byvarious hardware components, or combination thereof, as desired for agiven set of design parameters or performance constraints.

In addition to the end user devices 102, the authentication computingsystem 100 may be in communication with other entities, such as abiometric ID module 112. In some example embodiments, biometric IDfunctionality may be supplied from one or more third party biometricservices providers. One example provider of biometric services isavailable at http://www.face.com and accessible via an applicationprogramming interface (API). Other services may be provided by otherthird party providers, such as geolocational services, which may beprovide by a geolocational module 114 through an API. An examplegeolocational service is the W3C Geolocation API provided by the WorldWide Web Consortium (W3C). In some embodiments, biometric ID and/orgeolocational services may be provided by the authentication computingsystem 100 without the aid of outside service providers. For example,biometric information of users of the system may be stored by theauthentication computing system.

During an authentication event, the authentication computing system 100may receive and process an encrypted network packet 106 from the userdevice 102. The encrypted network packet 106 may be encrypted usingchaos-based image encryption, for example. The network packet 106 mayinclude an image 108 and may also include contextual data 110. The image108 may include, for example, an image of the user for biometricanalysis. The image 108 may also include additional image data that maybe analyzed and processed by the authentication computing system 100.For example, the additional image data may include, without limitation,a source of light at a particular location in the image relative to theuser, a particular gesture by the user, a particular facial expressionby the user, a particular color reflected off a portion of the user, andso forth. The contextual data 110 may include, without limitation, amachine ID, locational information, device global positioning system(GPS) information, radio-frequency identification (RFID) information,near-field communication (NFC) information, MAC address information, andso forth. For user devices 102 supporting a position determinationcapability, examples of position determination capability may includeone or more position determination techniques such as Global PositioningSystem (GPS) techniques, Assisted GPS (AGPS) techniques, hybridtechniques involving GPS or AGPS in conjunction with Cell GlobalIdentity (CGI), Enhanced Forward Link Trilateration (EFLT), AdvancedForward Link Trilateration (AFTL), Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA,Angle of Arrival (AOA), Enhanced Observed Time Difference (EOTD), orObserved Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA), and/or any other positiondetermination techniques in accordance with the described embodiments.The image 108 and any other information associated with the image may bepurged by the user device 102 subsequent to the transmission of theimage 108 to the authentication computing system 100.

The encrypted network packet 106 may be sent to the authenticationcomputing system 100 in response to a user's interaction with the userdevice 102. For example, a user may be seeking to log into a restrictedwebsite, access a restricted website, access a restricted file, access arestricted building, or access a restricted computing device. Uponreceipt of the encrypted network packet 106 (which may be comprised of aplurality of individual network packets) the authentication computingsystem 100 may decrypt the information in order to process the image 108and any associated contextual data 110. If a third party biometric IDmodule 112 is used, information may be provided to the service providerthrough an API. For example, the biometric ID module 112 may analyzefacial features of the user to ascertain identity. The additional imagedata in the image 108 (such as relative flash placement, for example)may be compared to a baseline image stored in the baseline imagedatabase 124. In some example embodiments, additional comparisons oranalysis may be performed on the contextual data 110, the image 108, orother information contained in the encrypted network packet 106.

In some embodiments, the encrypted network packet 106 may include anaudio file 109 which includes a voice of the user, in addition to thecontextual data 110. The audio file 109 may be included, for example, inthe place of the image 108 when an image of the user cannot be obtained.The audio file 109 may be processed by the authentication computingsystem 100 to compare the audio file 109 to a known voice signature ofthe user. The audio file 109 may be collected by the user device 102 andtransmitted to the authentication computing system 100 when it isdeemed, for example, that an onboard camera of the user device 102 isnot functioning. In other embodiments, both the image 108 and the audiofile 109 are required by the authentication computing system 100 forauthentication.

Once the user has been authenticated, verification 130 indicating thatthe user has been property authenticated may be provided to the userdevice 102 by the authentication computing system 100. The verification130 may be in any suitable form. For example, the verification 130 mayindicate to an application running on the user device 102 that the useris an authorized user. Subsequent to receiving the verification, theuser device 102 may allow the user to log into a restricted website,access a restricted website, access a restricted file, access arestricted building, or access a restricted computing device, forexample.

FIGS. 2A-2L schematically illustrate various forms of information thatmay be sent to the authentication computing system 100 via an image inorder to authenticate a particular user. As is to be appreciated, theillustrated images are merely examples of illustrative embodiments andare not intended to be limiting.

Referring first to FIG. 2A, in one example embodiment, an image 200comprises a biometric feature and a flash location. The biometricfeature may be, for example, a facial feature, a hand feature, a retinalfeature, a biological sinusoidal rhythm, and so forth. The flashlocation, as described in more detail below, may be the relativeposition of a point of light relative to the biometric feature.Referring next to FIG. 2B, in one example embodiment, an image 210comprises a biometric feature and a gesture. The gesture may be, forexample, a hand gesture, a multi-hand gesture, a facial expression, anarm position, and so forth. Referring next to FIG. 2C, in one exampleembodiment, an image 212 comprises a biometric feature, a gesture, and aflash location. Referring next to FIG. 2D, in one example embodiment, animage 214 comprises a biometric feature, a gesture location, and a flashlocation.

Referring to FIG. 2E, in one example embodiment, an image 216 comprisesa biometric feature and a color feature. As described in more detailbelow, in some example embodiments, prior to capturing the image, thecomputer device may output a particular color on its graphical displaysuch that can reflect off a biometric feature of the user as a colorsignature. The reflected color, along with the biometric features, maybe analyzed by the authentication computing system 100 to confirmidentity. Referring next to FIG. 2F, in one example embodiment, an image218 comprises a biometric feature, a flash location, and a colorfeature. Referring next to FIG. 2G, in one example embodiment, an image220 comprises a biometric feature, a color feature, and a gesture.

Referring to FIG. 2H, in one example embodiment, an image 224 comprisesa biometric feature and a gesture. Machine ID may also be associatedwith the image 224 and provided to the authentication computing system100. The machine ID may be contextual data, which may include any typeof additional data, such as locational information, GPS information,RFID information, NFC information, MAC address information, device data,and so forth. The machine ID provided as contextual data may be comparedto machine ID stored by the authentication computing system 100. Forexample, the authentication computing system 100 may compare thelocational information provided with the image 224 to an expectedlocation stored by the system. If the image 224 was not captured at ageographical location near the expected location, authentication willnot be successful.

Referring to FIG. 2I, in one example embodiment, an image 226 comprisesa biometric feature and a flash angle. The flash angle may be, forexample, an angle of incidence of the flash. A non-limiting example offlash angle determination is described in more detail with regard toFIG. 4D. Referring now to FIG. 2J, an image 228 comprise a biometricfeature and a user device angle. The value of the user device angle maybe measured by an accelerometer on-board the user device, for example.

Referring now to FIG. 2K, an image 230 comprises a biometric feature andlocational information. The locational information may be gathered by anon-board GPS, for example. In one embodiment, the location informationcan include longitude, latitude, and altitude. The image 230 may alsocomprise flash angle information.

Referring next to FIG. 2L, an image 232 may comprise a biometricfeature, flash/shutter synchronicity information, and a gesturelocation. With regard to flash/shutter synchronicity, the authenticationcomputing system 100 may communicate with the user device 102 during theimage capture process to control the relative timing of the flash andthe shutter. For example, the authentication computing system 100 maycause a slight flash delay or shutter delay to give the captured image aparticular flash signature. A change in the flash delay or shutter delaymay result in a different flash signature. The flash signature in theimage may be analyzed by the authentication computing system 100 as anauthentication variable.

It is noted that the informational components of the various imagesillustrated in FIGS. 2A-2L are merely for illustrative purposes. Infact, images provided to the authentication computing system 100 mayinclude any number of authentication variables and/or any combination ofauthentication variables. The number or combination of authenticationvariables transmitted with the image may depend, at least in part, on adesired level of security. In some embodiments, the numberauthentication variables used and/or the priority of the authenticationvariables may be based on the available resources at the time ofauthentication. As described in more detail below, example resourcesthat may be considered included, without limitation, battery supply,data transmission rates, network signal strength, and so forth.

In some embodiments, the authentication computing system may requireuser authentication based on contextual operational information, such asthe geographical location of the user device or the period of time sincea previous successful authentication, for example. By way of example, auser of a user device may power down a user device during a planeflight. Upon arriving at the destination, the user device will bepowered up. The distance between the particular geographic location ofthe user device upon power down and the particular geographic locationof the user device upon power up can be assessed. If the distance isbeyond a predetermined distance threshold, the user device may requireuser authentication before providing user access.

Furthermore, in some embodiments, the user device may include aplurality of data collection devices that each requires different levelsof operational resources. For example, a smart phone may have twoon-board cameras, a high-resolution camera and a low-resolution camera.Images captured using the low-resolution camera requires less data and,therefore, such camera may be useful during times of low datatransmission rates. In such instances, the biometric data collected fromthe user may include periocular data, for example. If the user device isoperating on a network connection having high data transmission rates,the high-resolution camera may be used. In any event, the systems andmethods described herein may alter or shift the type of authenticationvariables considered, and the techniques for gathering such variables,based on operational or environmental factors existing at the time ofthe authentication request. The systems and methods described herein mayuse additional techniques or processes to compensate for operationalconditions. For example, during low light conditions, a particular colormay be displayed on a screen of the user device, such that the screencan be held proximate to the user to illuminate the user's face withthat particular hue. The particular color may change over time (such asin a strobed fashion), with the shutter coordinated with the pulses oflight. As such, as an additional layer of security, an image with aparticular color reflected off of the user's face can be compared withan expected color.

FIG. 3 illustrates a user device 304 capturing an image of a user inaccordance with the presently disclosed systems and methods. The user ispositioned in front of a reflective surface 310, such as a mirror orreflective window, for example. Prior to capturing the image, a lightsource 306 (such as a flash on a smart phone) is activated. The user maythen position the light source reflection 308 at a pre-defined positionrelative the user reflection 302. The pre-defined position may be basedon a desired angle of incidence, a desired distance from the user, orother desired relative location. While not shown, in some embodiments,the user may additionally make a gesture for reflection by thereflective surface 310. Once in the proper position, a camera 312associated with the user device 304 may capture an image of thereflective surface 310. The image, similar to image 108 in FIG. 1, forexample, may be provided to an authentication computing system local tothe user device 304 or to a remote authentication computing system via anetworked connection. In some example embodiments, the reflectivesurface 310 may include a communication element 316. The communicationelement 316 may utilize, for example, a BLUETOOTH® communicationprotocol or a near-field communication protocol. The communicationelement 316 may provide addition data (such as contextual data) that maybe transmitted along with the image to the authentication computingsystem.

Various forms of assistance may be provided to the user by theauthentication computing system 100 during the image capture processillustrated in FIG. 3. In one embodiment, for example, a visual cue isprovided to the user on the screen of the user device 304. The visualcue may provide an indication of the relative proper placement of theuser device 304 in the image for a particular image capture session. Thevisual cue may be, without limitation, a solid dot on the screen, aflashing dot on the screen, a grid on the screen, graphical bars orlines on the screen, or any other suitable visual cue.

The particular location of the visual cue on the screen may be providedto the user device 304 by signaling from the authentication computingsystem 100. In various embodiments, the particular location of thevisual cue may change for each image capture process (similar to arolling code, for example). As the user positions themselves in front ofthe reflective surface 310, they may also position the user device 304in the proper relative placement as noted by the visual cue. The usermay also provide any additional authentication variables (such as agesture, gesture location, user device angle, and so forth). Once theuser device 304 is in the proper position the user device 304 mayautomatically capture the image without additional input from the user.For example, in one operational example, the screen of the user device304 may have a visual indication flashing in the upper left quadrant ofthe screen. Once the user device 304 detects, through image analysis,that the user device 304 is positioned in the upper left quadrant of theimage, an image may be automatically captured and transmitted to theauthentication computing system 100. While in some embodiments, the userdevice 304 may automatically capture an image, in other embodiments theuser may initiate the image capture by pressing a button (physical orvirtual) on the user device 304.

It is noted that an audio cue may alternatively or additionally serve asa form of assistance. For example, when the user has positioned in theuser device 304 in the proper relative position, an audible alert may beprovided by the user device 304. As is to be appreciated, other forms ofassistance may be used, such as haptic feedback, for example.

The various image components of the image received from the user device304 by an authentication computing system may be analyzed using anynumber of analytical techniques. FIG. 4A shows an analysis techniquethat divides the image 400 into a grid sixteen square segments. In oneembodiment, the grid is keyed to a chin 404 of the user. As illustrated,the reflected light source 406 in the image 400 is located in segment 8.As part of the authentication, the authentication computing systemanalyzing the image 400 could use a two part process. First, theidentity of the user could be determined by a biometric analysis of theuser image 402. Second, the relative placement of the reflected lightsource 406 in the image could be used as an authentication variable. Forexample, a comparison could be made to a baseline image stored in adatabase in order to confirm the reflected light source 406 is in theproper segment. In some embodiments, the proper segment may change overtime. In such embodiments, a user of the system would know in whichsegment to place the reflected light source 406 based on a time of day,day of the week, or based on where the user was physically located, forexample.

FIG. 4B shows an analysis technique that uses distances between variousfeatures of the image 420 to confirm identity and provide authorization.The illustrated embodiment shows a shoulder width distance 422, a chinto shoulder vertical distance 424, and a reflected light source to chindistance 426 as variables. In some example embodiments, a relative angleof the reflected light source may be calculated or measured and comparedto a baseline angle.

FIG. 4C shows an analysis technique that divides the image 440 into aplurality of pie shaped segments. While the illustrated embodiment showssix pie segments, this disclosure is not so limited. For example, theimage 440 may be divided up into 12 pie shaped segments to emulate theface of an analog clock. The pie shaped segments may converge on thenose 442 of the user image 402, or may converge on another location(such as a gesture). As shown, the user is placing the reflected lightsource 406 in segment “B.” Similar to the embodiment illustrated in FIG.4A, the segment in FIG. 4C providing proper authorization may changeover time. With a rolling segment approach, the overall security offeredby the system may be increased.

FIG. 4D shows an analysis technique for determining an angle ofincidence (shown as “θ”) of the light source 306. The angle θ may becompared to a stored angular value as part of the authenticationprocess. In FIG. 4D a top view of the user device 304 capturing a userimage 402 and reflected light source 406 is provided. In the illustratedembodiment, angle θ is function of a distance 450 (the distance betweenthe reflected light source 406 and a center of the user image 402) andthe distance 458 (the distance between the user/light source 306 and thereflective surface 310). The distance 450 may be orthogonal to distance458. It is noted that while the light source 306 and the user areillustrated as being co-planar with the reflected surface 310, thisdisclosure is not so limited. In other words, in some implementations,the user may position the light source 306 either closer to thereflective surface 310 or further way from the reflected surface 310relative to the user.

The distance 458 may be determined by the authentication computingsystem 100 based on an analysis of one or more facial dimensions (orratios of dimensions) of the user image 402. For example, a head widthdimension 452, an eye width dimension 456, and/or a nose-to-eardimension 454 may be determined by any suitable image processingtechnique. In one embodiment, the user image 402 may be vectorized bythe authentication computing system 100 as part of the image analysisprocessing. Once the dimension(s) (and/or ratios) are determined, theycan be compared to known biometric data stored by the authenticationcomputing system 100 in order to extrapolate the distance 458. Thedistance 450 can also be determined, for example, by image analysis ofthe image received by the authentication computing system 100.

Once distances 450 and 458 are determined, in one embodiment, the angleθ may be calculated based on Equations 1 and 2:

$\begin{matrix}{{{Tan}\; \theta} = \frac{{Distance}\mspace{14mu} 450}{{Distance}\mspace{14mu} 458}} & {{EQ}.\mspace{14mu} 1} \\{\theta = {{Arc}\; {Tan}\; \frac{{Distance}\mspace{14mu} 450}{{Distance}\mspace{14mu} 458}}} & {{EQ}.\mspace{14mu} 2}\end{matrix}$

Once angle θ has been determined, it can then be compared to an angularvalue stored by the authentication computing system 100 as anauthentication variable.

By way of example, an angular value of 30° may be stored by theauthentication computing system 100. If the determined angle θ is in therange of 27° to 33°, for example, the flash angle may be deemedauthenticated. It is to be appreciated that the acceptable range ofangles may vary. In some embodiments, for example, the determined anglemay be authenticated if it is within +/−25% of the stored angular value,while other embodiments may only permit authentication if the determinedangle is within +/−1% of the stored angular value.

In some embodiments, real-time image analysis of the image feed from thecamera 312 may be used during the image capture process. For example,the image feed may be analyzed to determine one or more facialdimensions (or ratios of dimensions) of the user image 402, such as thehead width dimension 452 and the eye width dimension 456. When thedimensions are at a predetermined value (which may indicate the user isat a proper distance 458 from the reflective surface 310) the image maybe automatically captured. As is to be appreciated, visual and/or audiocues can be provided to the user to assist with proper placement.Similar to above, the distance 450 may be determined by image analysisof the image received by the authentication computing system 100. Angleθ may then be determined using Equations 1 and 2, for example.

FIGS. 5A-5D show example images provided to an authentication computingsystem. Image 500 in FIG. 5A shows a user 504 holding a light source 506at one position and a gesture 502 at another position. Images 500, 520,540, and 560 illustrate the user 504, the light source 506, and thegesture 502 at other relative positions. As it to be appreciated, thefeatures 504, the relative placement of the light source 506, thegesture 502, and the relative placement of the gesture relative to theuser 504 and/or the light source 506 may be analyzed in accordance withthe systems and methods described herein. It is noted that FIG. 5Dillustrates that the image 560 may also include contextual data forprocessing by the authentication computing system. The contextual datamay include device information, geographical location data, or otherinformation which may be compared to expected contextual data stored bythe system.

In some example embodiments, in addition or alternatively to the variousauthentication techniques described above, various authenticationsystems may perform a color signature analysis on the incoming image aspart of the authentication process. FIG. 6 shows a user authenticationprocess in accordance with one non-limiting embodiment. As shown at anevent 610, a user is interacting with a computer device 612. Thecomputing device 612 may be similar to user device 102 (FIG. 1) and mayinclude a camera 614 and a graphical display 616. The computer device612 may send a request 692 to an authentication module 600 through acommunications network 690. The request 692 may be dispatched by anapplication running on the computing device 612. The request may includeany information needed by the authentication module 600. The request mayinclude, for example, a device ID or a user ID. Upon receipt of therequest 692, the authentication computing system 600 may transmit acolor key 694. The color key 694 may be stored in a color database 602.In various embodiments, the color key 694 may be in the form of a hexcode or a decimal code, as shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1 COLOR CHART Hex code Decimal code HTML name R G B R G BIndianRed CD 5C 5C 205 92 92 LightCoral F0 80 80 240 128 128 Salmon FA80 72 250 128 114 DarkSalmon E9 96 7A 233 150 122 LightSalmon FF A0 7A255 160 122 Red FF 00 00 255 0 0 Crimson DC 14 3C 220 20 60 FireBrick B222 22 178 34 34 DarkRed 8B 00 00 139 0 0 Pink FF C0 CB 255 192 203LightPink FF B6 C1 255 182 193 HotPink FF 69 B4 255 105 180 DeepPink FF14 93 255 20 147 MediumVioletRed C7 15 85 199 21 133 PaleVioletRed DB 7093 219 112 147 LightSalmon FF A0 7A 255 160 122 Coral FF 7F 50 255 12780 Tomato FF 63 47 255 99 71 OrangeRed FF 45 00 255 69 0 DarkOrange FF8C 00 255 140 0 Orange FF A5 00 255 165 0 Gold FF D7 00 255 215 0 YellowFF FF 00 255 255 0 LightYellow FF FF E0 255 255 224 LemonChiffon FF FACD 255 250 205 LightGoldenrodYellow FA FA D2 250 250 210 PapayaWhip FFEF D5 255 239 213 Moccasin FF E4 B5 255 228 181 PeachPuff FF DA B9 255218 185 PaleGoldenrod EE E8 AA 238 232 170 Khaki F0 E6 8C 240 230 140DarkKhaki BD B7 6B 189 183 107 Lavender E6 E6 FA 230 230 250 Thistle D8BF D8 216 191 216 Plum DD A0 DD 221 160 221 Violet EE 82 EE 238 130 238Orchid DA 70 D6 218 112 214 Fuchsia FF 00 FF 255 0 255 Magenta FF 00 FF255 0 255 MediumOrchid BA 55 D3 186 85 211 MediumPurple 93 70 DB 147 112219 BlueViolet 8A 2B E2 138 43 226 DarkViolet 94 00 D3 148 0 211DarkOrchid 99 32 CC 153 50 204 DarkMagenta 8B 00 8B 139 0 139 Purple 8000 80 128 0 128 Indigo 4B 00 82 75 0 130 DarkSlateBlue 48 3D 8B 72 61139 SlateBlue 6A 5A CD 106 90 205 MediumSlateBlue 7B 68 EE 123 104 238GreenYellow AD FF 2F 173 255 47 Chartreuse 7F FF 00 127 255 0 LawnGreen7C FC 00 124 252 0 Lime 00 FF 00 0 255 0 LimeGreen 32 CD 32 50 205 50PaleGreen 98 FB 98 152 251 152 LightGreen 90 EE 90 144 238 144MediumSpringGreen 00 FA 9A 0 250 154 SpringGreen 00 FF 7F 0 255 127MediumSeaGreen 3C B3 71 60 179 113 SeaGreen 2E 8B 57 46 139 87ForestGreen 22 8B 22 34 139 34 Green 00 80 00 0 128 0 DarkGreen 00 64 000 100 0 YellowGreen 9A CD 32 154 205 50 OliveDrab 6B 8E 23 107 142 35Olive 80 80 00 128 128 0 DarkOliveGreen 55 6B 2F 85 107 47MediumAquamarine 66 CD AA 102 205 170 DarkSeaGreen 8F BC 8F 143 188 143LightSeaGreen 20 B2 AA 32 178 170 DarkCyan 00 8B 8B 0 139 139 Teal 00 8080 0 128 128 Aqua 00 FF FF 0 255 255 Cyan 00 FF FF 0 255 255 LightCyanE0 FF FF 224 255 255 PaleTurquoise AF EE EE 175 238 238 Aquamarine 7F FFD4 127 255 212 Turquoise 40 E0 D0 64 224 208 MediumTurquoise 48 D1 CC 72209 204 DarkTurquoise 00 CE D1 0 206 209 CadetBlue 5F 9E A0 95 158 160SteelBlue 46 82 B4 70 130 180 LightSteelBlue B0 C4 DE 176 196 222PowderBlue B0 E0 E6 176 224 230 LightBlue AD D8 E6 173 216 230 SkyBlue87 CE EB 135 206 235 LightSkyBlue 87 CE FA 135 206 250 DeepSkyBlue 00 BFFF 0 191 255 DodgerBlue 1E 90 FF 30 144 255 CornflowerBlue 64 95 ED 100149 237 RoyalBlue 41 69 E1 65 105 225 Blue 00 00 FF 0 0 255 MediumBlue00 00 CD 0 0 205 DarkBlue 00 00 8B 0 0 139 Navy 00 00 80 0 0 128MidnightBlue 19 19 70 25 25 112 Cornsilk FF F8 DC 255 248 220BlanchedAlmond FF EB CD 255 235 205 Bisque FF E4 C4 255 228 196NavajoWhite FF DE AD 255 222 173 Wheat F5 DE B3 245 222 179 BurlyWood DEB8 87 222 184 135 Tan D2 B4 8C 210 180 140 RosyBrown BC 8F 8F 188 143143 SandyBrown F4 A4 60 244 164 96 Goldenrod DA A5 20 218 165 32DarkGoldenrod B8 86 0B 184 134 11 Peru CD 85 3F 205 133 63 Chocolate D269 1E 210 105 30 SaddleBrown 8B 45 13 139 69 19 Sienna A0 52 2D 160 8245 Brown A5 2A 2A 165 42 42 Maroon 80 00 00 128 0 0 White FF FF FF 255255 255 Snow FF FA FA 255 250 250 Honeydew F0 FF F0 240 255 240MintCream F5 FF FA 245 255 250 Azure F0 FF FF 240 255 255 AliceBlue F0F8 FF 240 248 255 GhostWhite F8 F8 FF 248 248 255 WhiteSmoke F5 F5 F5245 245 245 Seashell FF F5 EE 255 245 238 Beige F5 F5 DC 245 245 220OldLace FD F5 E6 253 245 230 FloralWhite FF FA F0 255 250 240 Ivory FFFF F0 255 255 240 AntiqueWhite FA EB D7 250 235 215 Linen FA F0 E6 250240 230 LavenderBlush FF F0 F5 255 240 245 MistyRose FF E4 E1 255 228225 Gainsboro DC DC DC 220 220 220 LightGrey D3 D3 D3 211 211 211 SilverC0 C0 C0 192 192 192 DarkGray A9 A9 A9 169 169 169 Gray 80 80 80 128 128128 DimGray 69 69 69 105 105 105 LightSlateGray 77 88 99 119 136 153SlateGray 70 80 90 112 128 144 DarkSlateGray 2F 4F 4F 47 79 79 Black 0000 00 0 0 0

At event 630, the computing device 612 may output the color on thegraphical display 616. The user can then position themselves proximatethe graphical display 616 so that the color 618 is reflected off theuser's feature as a color signature 620. In some embodiments, the userpositions themselves within about 12 inches of the graphical display616. The computer device 612 may then capture an image 622 of the userwith accompanying color signature 620 using the camera 614. As is to beappreciated, while not illustrated in FIG. 6, the user may also make agesture that could be captured by the camera 614. Furthermore, thegraphical display 616 may be caused to sequentially display a pluralityof different colors, such as to provide a color-keyed strobe affect, asdescribed herein.

At event 650, the image 622 is sent to the authentication computingsystem 600, as illustrated by image upload 696. The image 622 may beencrypted using any suitable encryption scheme. Upon receipt, theauthentication computing system 600 may perform various analyticprocesses on the image. For example, the authentication computing system600 may perform a color analysis on the color signature 620 to confirmthe proper color is present in the image and that it is properlyreflected off the user. Furthermore, biometric analysis techniques mayalso be performed to the image received to confirm the identity of theuser. Biometric information may be stored in a biometric database 604.As is to be appreciated, a gesture present in the image could also beanalyzed by the authentication computing system as part of theauthentication process. As is to be appreciated, the authenticationcomputing system 600 may comprise a variety of databases 606 relevant tothe authentication process. For example, in some embodiments, one ormore databases 606 may store gesture-related information. Database 606may also store various device specific variables, such as machine IDs.Database 606 (or other associated databases) may also variousauthentication variables, such as flash angle variables, user deviceangle variables, shutter/flash synchronicity variables, and so forth.

At event 670, an authentication confirmation 698 is sent to thecomputing device 612. Upon receipt of the authentication confirmation,an application, or other gatekeeper on the computing device, could allowthe user access to the desired destination.

In some embodiments, a moving image scan may be utilized forauthentication purposes. The moving image scan (sometimes referred toherein as a rotary scan) can generate image data that is recorded as avideo file or can generate image data that is a series of still images.The image data may be obtained as a user moves a user device in aparticular path in space proximate to the user's body. The particularpath may be chosen so that image data regarding a user's body iscollected from many different angles so that it may be analyzed as partof the authentication process. In one embodiment, the particular path isgenerally arc-shaped and circumnavigates at least a portion of a user'shead or upper torso. In some embodiments, instead of moving the userdevice, the user may move in a predetermined path while the camera onthe user device remains relatively still. For example, the user mayslowly sweep or swivel their head side to side as image data iscollected by a relatively stationary camera. The camera (such as acamera on a user device), may be held in the hand of a user orpositioned on a stationary object, for example.

In addition to image data, additional contextual data may be collectedduring the moving image scan and provided to the authenticationcomputing system as part of authentication processes utilizing “man andmachine” binding. The contextual data may be collected by sensors thatare onboard the user device, such as gyroscopes, accelerometers, andelectromagnetic field meters, for example. This contextual data may beused by the authentication computing system to determine whetherparameters associated with the predetermined path are within aparticular range. For example, for proper authentication, a user mayneed to move the user device at a speed of about 2 ft/sec in acounter-clockwise direction, while the user device held at about a 45degree angle. Information that may be used to determine if theserequirements are satisfied may be provided as contextual data that issent with image data to the authentication computing system.Furthermore, measurements related to electromagnetic fields may beincluded with the contextual data and be used to confirm that the userstarted and ended the path at the proper positions.

FIG. 7A depicts an example moving image scan in accordance with onenon-limiting embodiment. A user device 702 includes an onboard camera708 that may collect video and/or still images. As part of anauthentication process the user 704 sweeps the user device 702 in a path706 while the camera 708 collects image data. While the path 706 isshown as an arc, a variety of paths may be used, such as saw-toothpaths, v-shaped paths, linear paths, and so forth. FIG. 7B depicts anexample moving image scan where the user 704 sweeps their head side toside in a path 706 while the camera 708 collects the image data. Inother embodiments, the user may be required to nod their head up anddown, move their head in a circular pattern, or otherwise execute aparticular head and/or body movement. In any event, during or subsequentto the sweep, images 710 may be provided to an authentication computingsystem, such as the authentication computing system 100 shown in FIG. 1.The images 710 may include contextual data 712, which may include speeddata, orientation data, machine ID, GPS data, and so forth. The images710 and the contextual data 712 may be transmitted to the authenticationcomputing system in an encrypted network packet, similar to theencrypted network packet 106 shown in FIG. 1. The authenticationcomputing system can analyze the images 710 and the contextual data 712to determine if the user 704 should be authenticated. For example, theimages 710 may be compared to images in a baseline image database 124(FIG. 1).

FIG. 7C depicts an example process flow 740 associated with a movingimage scan. At 742, a camera is activated on a user device, such as amobile computing device. At 744, sensor data from the mobile computingdevice is gathered. While a wide variety of sensor data can be gatheredfrom the mobile computing device, example sensors 764 include, withoutlimitation, a gyroscope 766, an accelerometer 768, a magnetometer 770, acamera 772, a GPS 774, among others. As described herein, in someembodiments the particular sensor data that is utilized by the processflow 740 may be based, at least in part, on the availability ofresources, such as network bandwidth and battery power, for example. Inany event, at 746 a face is moved in front of the camera, such as bysweeping the camera in front of the face (similar to the moving imagescan described in FIG. 7A, for example). During the moving image scan,at time periods “Ts”, the mobile computing device can find the face inthe image and detect various fiducial points, as shown at 748. Timeperiod Ts can be any suitable period of time, such as 0.03125 seconds(i.e., 32 frames/second), 0.1 seconds, 0.5 seconds, and so forth. As isto be appreciated, as the interval Ts is shortened, the needed bandwidthmay increase. Example fiducuial points include eye locations, noselocation, ear locations, facial measurements, and the like. At 750,camera movement is detected, by way of the sensor data gathered by themobile computing device. Camera movement may be detected at intervalsTs. By way of the determined camera movement, it is can determined ifthe camera was moved by the user in the expected path. At 760, livenessof the user is detected. In one embodiment, liveness is confirmed basedon changes of the face in the image matching the angular movements asdetected by the sensors. Basing the determination off of angularmovements can mitigate attempted spoofing by using a 2-dimensional imageof a user. At 762, it is determined whether to authenticate user. Suchdetermination may be made, for example, after a sufficient number ofintervals Ts have elapsed, such as 5 intervals, 10 intervals, 20intervals, 100 intervals, or 160 intervals, for example.

FIG. 8A depicts another example of an authentication process utilizing amoving image scan. The illustrated authentication process includes theuse of a color signature, which is described above with regard to FIG.6. A user device 802 includes a graphical display 816 and an onboardcamera 808 that may collect video and/or still images. As part of anauthentication process, the graphical display 816 projects a particularcolor 818, which may be reflected off the facial features of the user804 as a color signature 820, as described above. The user 804 sweepsthe user device 802 in a path 806 while the camera 808 collects imagedata, which includes the color signature 820. During or subsequent tothe sweep, images 810 may be provided to an authentication computingsystem, such as the authentication computing system 100 shown in FIG. 1.The images 810 may include contextual data 812, as described above withregard to contextual data 712. The authentication computing system mayanalyze the images 810 and the contextual data 812 to determine if theuser 804 should be authenticated.

FIG. 8B illustrates an example process flow 840 associated with a movingimage scan utilizing multi-colored strobing. At 842, a scan is started.The scan may be generally similar to the moving image scan describedwith regard to FIG. 8A. At 844, an ambient light condition is sensed.Such condition may be sensed using an ambient light sensor onboard theuser device 802 (FIG. 8A). If there is adequate ambient lighting tocollect biometric data, the process can continued to executeauthentication under normal light conditions, as shown at 860. If a lowlight condition exists (i.e., under a threshold lux level), theauthentication process may utilize a multi-colored strobe technique togather biometric data from the user. At 848, a multi-color strobe isactivated by successively displaying different colors on a display ofthe user device 801. In one embodiment, one of seven colors is blinkedtwice on the screen. The color may be displayed on the display for aparticular time period, such as Ts, described above. The periodic colorstrobe and the periodic collection of the image data may be coordinatedso that image data is collected at times when the display is illuminatedwith a particular color. At 850, the camera is moved relative to a face.At 852, the camera is rotated with respect to the face such that imagesof the face at a plurality of different angular vantages can becollected. At 854, an image is received 854. As the color changes afterTs, additional images can be collected at 854. At 856, the illuminationon the face with respect to both the angular position (as determined bysensor data) and the color data is determined. At 858, authentication isdetermined using biometric data, illumination data, and any othercontextual data, such as geolocational information, machine ID, and soforth.

The data collected from the image scan using the strobing colors may notbe sufficient to satisfy an authentication threshold. In someembodiments, a communication feedback loop between the authenticationcomputing system and the user may be used to obtain the user'sobservations during the scan. For example, if the facial recognitiondata is not sufficient to authenticate the user, the authenticationcomputing system can send an electronic communication to the userdevice. The electronic communication can be in any suitable format, suchas a SMS text message, an email message, an “in-application” message, amessenger message, and so forth. The electronic communication can askthe user to identify the color or colors they saw on the screen duringthe attempted authentication. The user can reply with the color usingany suitable messaging technique, such as a reply SMS message, forexample. If the user's observation of the color data matches the colorthat was, in fact, blinked on the screed on the user device, theauthentication computing system can use that observation to qualify theuser. Accordingly, using this techniques, there generally two observersin the authentication process. The authentication computing systemobserves the illumination data reflected off the skin of a user by wayof the image gathering process and the user observes the color that isdisplayed on the display of the user device.

In some embodiments, the authentication may include acquisition ofimages from a plurality of devices in either a sequential or concurrentimage collection process. For example, for proper authentication, ahandheld mobile device may need to collect a first image of a user and alaptop computer (or other computing device), collects a second image ofthe user. In other embodiments, a different collection of computingdevices may be used to collect the images, such as a mobile device and awall-mounted unit, for example. FIG. 9 illustrates an authenticationprocess utilizing a multi-image acquisition process in accordance withone non-limiting embodiment. A user is positioned proximate to a firstuser device (shown as a smart phone) having a camera 904. The user isalso positioned proximate to a second user device 906 (shown as alaptop) having a camera 908. While two user devices are illustrated inFIG. 9, some embodiments may utilize three more or more user devices. Inany event, the first user device 902 collects first image 910 and thesecond user device collects second image 914. The first image 910 andthe second image 914 may be collected at generally the same time or theymay be collected sequentially. Each image 910, 914 may includeassociated contextual data 912, 916. The images 910, 914 may be providedto the authentication computing system 100 for processing. As shown,verification 130 may be provided to the first user device 902 if theauthentication computing system 100 to indicate a successfulauthentication of the user. It is noted that while the verification 130is shown being delivered to the first user device 902, the verification130 may additionally or alternatively be delivered to the second userdevice 906.

FIG. 10 illustrates an authentication process utilizes multi-imageacquisition process in accordance with another one non-limitingembodiment. The authentication process is generally similar to theprocess shown in FIG. 9. In FIG. 10, however, user movement 920 isrequired as part of the authentication process. Such movement may beused to aid in thwarting spoofing techniques. In some embodiments, theparticular movement required of the user may be identified during theauthentication process. For example, the first image 910 may becollected with the user at a first position. The user may then beinstructed by one of the first and second user devices 904, 906 toperform a certain movement, such as raise an arm. The second image 914may then be collected and analyzed by the authentication computingsystem 100 to confirm the user successfully completed the requestedmovement.

Various systems and methods described herein may generally provideresource aware mobile computing. Examples of resources that can beconsidered include, without limitation, network bandwidth, batter power,application settings, and the like. Based on the particular availabilityof the resources at the time of authentication, the system may changethe type of biometric data collected and transmitted, the type ofcontextual data collected and transmitted, or change otherauthentication parameters. During periods of relatively high resourceavailability, the system can use authentication techniques that utilizelarge amount of resources, such as bandwidth, battery power, and thelike. During periods of relatively low resource availability, the systemcan use authentication techniques that do not necessarily utilize largeamount of resources. In some embodiments, authentication procedures, orat least some of the authentication procedures, may be performed localto the computing device by a local authentication computing system. Theamount or portion of the authentication process performed local to thecomputing device compared to the amount or portion of the authenticationprocess performed remotely (such as by authentication computing system100), may be based on available resources, including environmentaland/or operational factors. Example factors may include, withoutlimitation, power source strength, available data transmission rates,available image processing ability, type of network connectionsavailable (i.e., cellular vs. WiFi), and so forth. Thus, resource-awaredecision making may be used to determine which part of theauthentication process is performed locally and which part of theauthentication process is performed remotely. In some embodiments, thesystem attempts to perform the entire authentication process local tothe user device. Such approach may be aimed to conserve bandwidth and/orto minimize communications over a network. If the user cannot beproperly authenticated, communications with a remote authenticationcomputing system may be utilized in an attempt to complete theauthentication request. In some embodiments, if the battery supply ofthe client device is beneath a certain threshold, a majority of theauthentication process is offloaded to the remote authenticationcomputing system. Moreover, the number of authentication variablesconsidered, or the types of authentication variables considered duringthe authentication process may be dependent on the environmental and/oroperational factors. For example, during periods of high dataconnectivity and/or high-battery strength, the authentication computingsystem may require the user device to supply a relatively high number ofauthentication variables and/or resource intensive variables. Duringperiods of low data connectivity and/or low battery strength, theauthentication computing system may determine that a subset ofauthentication variables are suitable for authentication based on theoperational conditions and request a limited number of authenticationvariables from the user device. In some embodiments, when the userdevice resumes high data connectivity and/or high battery strength, theauthentication computing system may require the user to re-authenticateusing additional authentication variables.

FIG. 11 illustrates an authentication computing system that comprises alocal authentication computing system 1101 and a remote authenticationcomputing system 1100. In the illustrated embodiment the remoteauthentication computing system 1100 comprises the elements of theauthentication computing system 100 described above with regard toFIG. 1. The local authentication computing system 1101 is executed on auser device 102. The local authentication computing system 1100 mayinclude a variety of modules or components for authenticating a user ofthe user device 102. For example, the local authentication computingsystem 1100 may comprise one or more processors 1116 and one or morecomputer memory units 1118. For convenience, only one processor 1116 andonly one memory unit 1118 are shown in FIG. 11. In some embodiments, forexample, the user device 102 includes a graphics processing unit (GPU).The processor 1116 may execute software instructions stored on thememory unit 1118. The processor 1116 may be implemented as an integratedcircuit (IC) having one or multiple cores. The memory unit 1118 mayinclude volatile and/or non-volatile memory units. Volatile memory unitsmay include random access memory (RAM), for example. Non-volatile memoryunits may include read only memory (ROM), for example, as well asmechanical non-volatile memory systems, such as, for example, a harddisk drive, an optical disk drive, etc. The RAM and/or ROM memory unitsmay be implemented as discrete memory ICs, for example.

The memory unit 1118 may store executable software and data forauthentication engine 1120. When the processor 1116 of the localauthentication computing system 1101 executes the software of theauthentication engine 1120, the processor 1116 may be caused to performthe various operations of the local authentication computing system1101, such as send information to remote computer devices, processinformation received from remote computer devices, and provideverification information regarding user authentication to applicationsexecuting on the user device 102. Data used by the authentication engine1120 may be from various sources, either local or remote, such as abaseline image database 1124 and/or baseline image database 124. Thedata stored in the baseline image database 1124 may be stored in anon-volatile computer memory, such as a hard disk drive, a read onlymemory (e.g., a ROM IC), or other types of non-volatile memory.

The user device 102 in the illustrated embodiment also comprises variouscomponents, such as a camera 1130, a microphone 1132, an input device1134, a display screen 1136, a speaker 1138, and a power supply 1140. Asis to be readily appreciated, other types of user device may havedifferent components as those illustrated in FIG. 11. In any event, theuser may interact with various components during an authenticationprocess. Depending on the available resources, the authentication engine1120 may determine whether to perform some or all of the authenticationprocess, or to offload some of all of the authentication process to theremote authentication computing system 1100. For example, if theavailable power in the power supply 1140 is relatively low, the userdevice 1101 may offload much of the authentication processing to theremote authentication computing system 1100. In another example, if thedata connection to the remote authentication computing system 1100 isunstable, of low quality, or non-existent, the user device 1101 mayperform much of the authentication processing using the localauthentication computing system 1101.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example data transferring technique utilizing anauthentication computing system. In the illustrated embodiment, theauthentication computer system 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 is utilized. Afirst user (illustrated at User 1) determines which file 1212 totransmit using a user device 1210. The file 1212 may be any suitabletype of electronic data file, such as a document file, an image file, avideo file, or any other type of computer storable data. The first usermay send an encrypted packet 1204 through a communications network 1202,such as a public network (i.e., the Internet), to the authenticationcomputing system 100. The encrypted packet 1204 may include the file1212 and recipient biometrics 1208. In one embodiment, the recipientbiometrics 1208 includes an image of the recipient. In otherembodiments, the recipient biometrics 1208 includes a recipientfingerprint, a recipient retina scan, or other recipient biometricidentifier. In the illustrated embodiment, the second user (illustratedas User 2) is the intended recipient of the file 1212. Prior to beinggiven access to the file 1212, the second user provides the user 2biometrics 1214 to the authentication computing system 100. Such user 2biometrics 1214 may include, for example, an image of the second userobtained using a camera (not shown) of the user device 1220. When theuser 2 biometrics 1214 are deemed to match the recipient biometrics1208, or at least satisfy a confidence threshold, that were originallyprovided by the first user, an encrypted packet 1216 may be delivered tothe user device 1220 of the second user. The encrypted packet 1216 mayinclude the file 1212.

While FIG. 12 illustrates a one-to-one file sharing scenario, othersharing scenarios may be facilitated by the authentication computingsystem 100, such as a one-to-many file sharing scenario. In suchscenarios, user 1 may provide recipient biometrics 1208 for each of aplurality of recipients, such as a group of N recipients. When the file1212 is encrypted, as described above, biometrics from of all of theplurality of recipients may be used. Subsequently, when a user seeksaccess to the encrypted file 1212, the authentication computing system100 may determine if the biometrics of the user seeking access to thefile matches any one of the recipient biometrics 1208 provided by user1. The authentication computing system 100 may also utilized contextualdata received from the user seeking access to the file, as describedherein.

In yet another embodiment one-to-many sharing scenario, such as for highsecurity type implementations, a certain number of recipients mustconcurrently access the encrypted file 1212 at the same time, or atleast nearly at the same time, in order for the collective group to gainaccess to the encrypted file. Such techniques may seek to ensure thatcertain files are accessed only in presence of other people. By way ofexample, user 1 may identify the biometrics of N recipients that mayaccess the file 1212, where N>1. User 1 may also identify a thresholdnumber k, where k=1 . . . N. Here, k is the number of recipients thatmust each provide individual biometrics before the file is decrypted sothat the file may be accessed by the group of k recipients. The valuefor k can be any suitable number, and may vary based on implementation,the desired level of security, or any other factors. In some embodiment,k is set by the authentication computing system 100 based on the numberN of recipients such that k is a majority of N, for example. In someembodiments, k is 20% of N, rounded to the nearest integer, and soforth. Furthermore, in addition to having the requisite number ofrecipients providing biometrics, the authentication computing system 100may also process contextual data associated with each recipient for anadditional layer of security.

FIG. 13 illustrates an authentication process 1300 for a computingdevice using a color signature in accordance with one non-limitingembodiment. At block 1302, an application is executed. The applicationmay be executed on a user device 102 (FIG. 1), for example. At block1304, the application sends a call requesting a color key. The call mayinclude various identification data. At block 1306, the color key isreceived. The color key may be in the form of a hex color code. At block1308, the color is displayed on the display screen of the user device.At block 1310, a camera is activated. The camera may be integral or maybe a standalone camera (such as a web cam, for example). At block 1312,an image is captured. The image may be of the face of the user with thecolor reflecting off the face as a color signature. At block 1314, theimage may be cryptographically sent to an authentication computingsystem. At block 1316, an authentication confirmation is received whenthe face and the color signature is authenticated.

FIG. 14 illustrates an authentication process 1400 for an authenticationcomputing system using a color signature in accordance with onenon-limiting embodiment. At block 1402, a color key is requested from amobile device. In some example embodiments, the request may be receivedfrom other types of devices, such as building access devices or desktopcomputers, for example. At block 1404, a particular color key is sent tothe mobile device. At block 1406, an image is received from the mobiledevice. At block 1408, the biometric components of the image areanalyzed. In some example embodiments, this analysis is performed by athird party biometric analytics service. At block 1410, color analysisis performed on a color signature of the image. In particular, the colorsignature can be analyzed to confirm it matches the signature for aparticular user and that it is the same color as the color keyoriginally sent to the mobile device. At block 1412, an authenticationconfirmation is sent to the mobile device when the face and the colorsignature is authenticated.

FIG. 15 illustrates an authentication process 1500 for a computingdevice in accordance with one non-limiting embodiment. At block 1502, anapplication is executed. At block 1504, a flash on the computing deviceis activated. At block 1506, the camera is activated. At block 1508, animage is captured by the camera. At block 1510, the image is sent to anauthentication computing system. The image may be encrypted prior totransmission. In some embodiments, the computing device purges the imagesubsequent to the transmission so that there is no local copy of theimage stored on the device. At block 1512, when the face and flashlocation have been authenticated by the authentication computing system,an authentication confirmation is received.

FIG. 16 illustrates an authentication process 1600 of an authenticationcomputing system in accordance with one non-limiting embodiment. Atblock 1602, a baseline image is received from a mobile device. Thebaseline image may be stored in a baseline image database. The baselineimage may contain various features, such as a gesture by a user and arelative location of a source of light. At block 1604, an image isreceived from the mobile device for the purposes of authentication. Atblock 1606, biometric analysis may be performed on the user's features(such as facial features, hand features, fingerprint features, orretinal features, for example). At block 1608, the location of the flashin the received image is compared to the location of the flash in thebaseline image. In some embodiments, the baseline image must be updated(changed) periodically. In any event, at block 1610, when the face andflash location are authenticated, an authentication confirmation is sentto the mobile device. As discussed herein, additional layers ofauthentication may also be performed, such as analysis of locationaldata or device data, for example.

FIG. 17 illustrates a user's authentication process 1700 in accordancewith one non-limiting embodiment. At block 1702, a user holds a mobiledevice with its flash activated. At block 1704, the user faces areflective surface. At block 1706, the user makes a gesture andpositions the gesture relative to their body, the mobile device, orother object. At block 1708, the user positions the active flash in aparticular position. At block 1710, a photograph of the reflectivesurface is taken by a camera of the mobile device. At block 1712, thephotograph is uploaded for authentication. As is to be appreciated, anynumber of authentication variables may be provided with the uploadedimage at block 1712. For example, uploaded authentication variables mayinclude, without limitation, the mobile device angle, the shutter/flashsynchronicity information, location information and so forth.

FIG. 18A illustrates an example message flow diagram 1800 for aregistration process in accordance with one embodiment. The message flowdiagram 1800 generally depicts messages utilized by a user device 1802and an authentication computing system 1806, some of which may be sentthrough a communications network 1804, during user registration. Theuser device 1802 comprises a biometric collection tool 1808 and acontextual data collection tool 1810. The biometric collection tool 1808may be, for example, a digital camera, a retina scanner, a fingerprintscanner or any other suitable device. The contextual data collectiontool 1810 may include software and/or hardware components for acquiringdata, such as geolocational data, user device movement data, machineidentification data, and so forth. The biometric collection tool 1808and a contextual data collection tool 1810 may respectively provide, viamessages 1822 and 1824, data to the processor 1812. The messages 1822and 1824 may generally provide various types of data unique to the userand the user device 1802. The processor 1812 may performpre-transmission processing of the data, such as crop an image collectedby the biometric collection tool 1808, convert an image to grey scale,convert a file type of the image (i.e., convert to .BMP), create arrayof images, normalize the data to a particular format, encrypt the data,and so forth.

Subsequent to any pre-transmission processing, the processor 1812 maycause a message 1826 to be sent through the communications network 1804to the authentication computing system 1806. The message 1826 may bereceived by a listener 1814. The listener 1814 may be “listening,” forexample, to messages transmitted using HTTP or HTTPS protocols for anauthentication request or a registration request. Here, the message 1826is an authentication request so the listener 1814 provides a message1828 which includes registration data to a processor 1816. The processor1816 may process the information received and then provide a message1830 to a user database 1818, a message 1832 to a biometric database1820, and a message 1834 to a contextual database 1822. The message 1830may identify provide user identification data (such as social securitynumber, patient ID number, account number, etc.), the message 1832 mayinclude, for example, image data, and the message 1834 may include, forexample, geolocational data and/or machine identification data.Generally, the messages 1830, 1832, and 1834 register a user of the userdevice 1802 with the authentication computing system 1806. The database1818, 1820, and 1822 may be implemented using any suitable type ofdatabase hardware or software. For example, in some embodiments,cloud-based storage systems are utilized.

FIG. 18B depicts an example message flow diagram 1840 for anauthentication process in accordance with one embodiment. The messageflow diagram 1840 generally depicts messages utilized by the user device1802 and the authentication computing system 1806, some of which may besent through the communications network 1804, during userauthentication. As part of the authentication process, the biometriccollection tool 1808 and the contextual data collection tool 1810 mayrespectively provide, via messages 1850 and 1852, data to the processor1812. The messages 1850 and 1852 may generally provide various types ofdata unique to the user and the user device 1802. Similar to theprocessing described in FIG. 18A, the processor 1812 may performpre-transmission processing of the data. It is noted that the contextualdata delivered using message 1852 may vary. For example, the type ofuser device 1802 (including the type of on-board sensors) or theoperational conditions (such data transmission rates, for example), mayat least partially determine which type of contextual data may betransmitted to authentication purposes.

Subsequent to any pre-transmission processing, the processor 1812 maycause a message 1854 to be sent through the communications network 1804to the authentication computing system 1806. The message 1854 may bereceived by a listener 1814, as described above. Here, the message 1854is a registration request so the listener 1814 provides a message 1856,which includes authentication data, to the processor 1816. The processor1816 may execute an authentication process utilizing various databasecalls. A message 1858 to the user database 1818 may seek confirmation ofa user's personal data included in the message 1854, such as SSN,patient number, user name, account number, and so forth. A message 1860may indicate whether a positive match was found.

A message 1862 to the biometric database 1818 may seek confirmation of auser's biometric data included in the message 1854, such as facial data,fingerprint data, and so forth. In some embodiments, the biometric datais a streamed collection of facial images. A message 1864 may indicatewhether a positive match was found. As is to be appreciated, a positivematch of the biometric data may be based on a threshold confidence levelor other metric. A message 1866 to the contextual database 1822 may seekauthentication of various types of additional data received from theuser device 1802, such as geolocational data and/or machineidentification data. A message 1868 indicates if a positive match forcontextual data was found. In some embodiments, the confidence levelthreshold for biometric data, along with the confidence level thresholdsfor other types of contextual data that are analyzed may be selectivelyincreased or decreased to adjust the overall usability of function ofthe authentication system.

Upon receiving and processing the information from the variousdatabases, the processor 1816 may provide an authentication requestresponse message 1870 to the listener 1814. In turn, the listener 1814may transmit a message 1872 through the network 1804 to the user device1802 indicating a positive or negative authentication.

Authentication processes in accordance with the present systems andmethods may be triggered using any suitable techniques. For example,when a user seeks to access a protection computing device, application,electronic document, and so forth, the authentication process may betriggered. In some embodiments, a transponder (such as an RFID device)may be positioned proximate to a restricted access device, such as alockable door. Upon a user approaching the restricted access device, thetransponder may trigger an authentication process to activate on a userdevice of the user. The user device may gather and provide information,such as biometric data and contextual data, to an authenticationcomputing system associated with door. When authentication issuccessfully performed, an unlock command may be transmitted to therestricted access device.

FIG. 19A illustrates an example simplified block diagram for a userregistration process. In some embodiments, the authentication computingsystem 1900 is implemented as a DLL access server. The authenticationcomputing system 1900 may be positioned behind a firewall 1904, whichmay generally serve protect enterprise data stored by the authenticationcomputing system, for example. A user device 1916 may be incommunication with the authentication computing system 1900 through acommunications network 1904. The user device 1916 may be provided usingany suitable processor-based device or system, such as a personalcomputer, laptop, server, mainframe, or a collection (e.g., network) ofmultiple computers, for example. The user device 1916 may include one ormore processors 1918 and one or more computer memory units 1920. Forconvenience, only one processor 1918 and only one memory unit 1920 areshown in FIG. 19A. The processor 1918 may execute software instructionsstored on the memory unit 1924, such as a web browsing application 1924.The processor 1918 may be implemented as an integrated circuit (IC)having one or multiple cores. The memory unit 1920 may include volatileand/or non-volatile memory units. Volatile memory units may includerandom access memory (RAM), for example. Non-volatile memory units mayinclude read only memory (ROM), for example, as well as mechanicalnon-volatile memory systems, such as, for example, a hard disk drive, anoptical disk drive, etc. The RAM and/or ROM memory units may beimplemented as discrete memory ICs, for example.

The memory unit 1920 may store executable software and data. When theprocessor 1918 of the user device 1916 executes the software, theprocessor 1918 may be caused to perform the various operations used forregistration and authentication of a use of the user device 1916, suchas send information to the authentication computing system 1900 andprocess information received from the authentication computing system1900.

The user device 1916 may comprise a wide variety of components, someexample of which are illustrated in FIG. 19A. For example, the userdevice 1916 may comprise a biometric collection unit 1922 for collectingbiometric information from a user of the user device 1916. In certainembodiments, the biometric collection unit 1922 is a digital camera. Theuser device 1916 may also include, without limitation, an accelerometer1926, a magnetometer 1928, or any other type of sensor 1930, device, orcomponent (such as an ambient light sensor, gyroscopic sensor,microphone, proximity sensor, and so forth) that may be used forcollecting data or information that may be provided to theauthentication computing system 1900 during a registration orauthentication process.

During a registration process, the user device 1916 may transmit acommunication 1906 to the authentication computing system 1900. Thecommunication 1906, or at least components of the communication, may beencrypted. In the illustrated embodiment, the communication 1906comprises base image data 1908 and contextual data 1910. The base imagedata 1908 may be, for example, a series of streamed images of a user.The contextual data 1910 may comprise information gathered from one ormore sensors, such as magnetometer 1928, information regarding the userdevice 1916, such as a machine ID or ESN, for example. Upon processingby the authentication computing system 1900, an output 1912 may beprovided to the user device 1916. The output 1912 may include, forexample, an indication 1914 that registration is complete.

Subsequent to registration with the authentication computing system, ause may seek an authorization request. FIG. 19B illustrates an examplesimplified block diagram for a user authentication process. In theillustrated embodiment, an authorization request 1950 comprises imagedata 1952 and contextual data 1954. The image data 1952 may be, forexample, streamed image data of a user's face. The contextual data 1954may include, for example, machine ID or ESN information, acceleration ormovement data, magnetic field data, and so forth. In any event, based onthe image data 1952 and the contextual data 1954, the authenticationcomputing system 1900 may determine whether the user of the user device1916 is an authenticated user. An output 1956 may be transmitted to theuser device 1916 to convey the results of the authentication request,which may include an indication of authentication 1958 or an indicationof non-authentication 1960.

FIG. 20A illustrates an example process for registering a user with anauthentication computing system. At 2000, a camera on a user device isactivated. The user device may be a component of, for example, a mobilecomputing device, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a tablecomputer, a wall-mounted device, and so forth. At 2002, the liveness ofa user is detected using any suitable technique or combination ofsuitable techniques. The particular technique or techniques used mayvary on operational conditions, such as ambient lighting conditions,available data transfer rates, battery life, and so forth. A rotaryfacial scan 2004 may be employed in suitable conditions, such as highambient lighting conditions. Image collection during a color keyedstrobe 2006 may be used, such as during low ambient conditions. During acolor keyed strobe, a screen on a user device may be sequentiallychanged colors, which images of the user's face positioned close to thescreen sequentially collected. Other techniques 2008 may be used todetect liveness, such as instructing a user to make certain movements,say certain words, and so forth. At 2010, a plurality of facial imagesare collected by the camera. In some embodiments, each facial image is anon-compressed file that is 100 pixels by 100 pixels, although otherformats may be used. At 2012, an array of the images is streamed to anauthentication computing system. In some embodiments, five facial imagesare combined into a 100 pixel by 500 pixel array. At 2014, contextualdata is streamed. As provided herein, the contextual data may include,for example, machine identification data, geolocational data, movementdata, and so forth. At 2016, upon satisfaction of the registrationrequirements, the user is registered with the authentication computingsystem.

FIG. 20B illustrates an example process for authenticating a registereduser of an authentication computing system. At 2050, a camera on a userdevice is activated. As described above with regard to FIG. 20A, theuser device may be a component of, for example, a mobile computingdevice, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a table computer, awall-mounted device, and so forth. At 2052, the liveness of the userseeking authentication is detected. Example techniques for detectingliveness during the authentication process include a rotary scan 2054, acolor keyed strobe 2056, or other technique 2058, such as requiringcertain movements or audio responses by a user. At 2060, one or morefacial images are gathered and at 2062, the one or more facial imagesare streamed to an authentication computing system. At 2064, contextualdata associated with the user device is streamed to the authenticationcomputing system. At 2066, the user is authenticated based on processingof the facial images and the contextual data.

In some embodiments, an authentication computing system in accordancewith the systems and methods described herein may be used by a certainrelying parties, such as using an OpenID-type authentication. FIG. 21illustrates an example communication block diagram. A protectedapplication 2106 may be accessible via a use device 2108. The protectedapplication 2106 may be, without limitation, a website, a localapplication, a remote application, and so forth. A user operating theuser device may either be a registered user of the OpenID platform 2104or need to become a registered user in order to access the protectedapplication 2106. As illustrated, during a “new user” registrationprocess credentials may be logged with an authentication computingsystem 2100. In some embodiments, the credentials include both a user IDand biometric data, such as an image. Once the user is registered withthe OpenID platform 2104, the user's credentials may be provided to theauthentication computing system 2100 (which may include biometric data)so that a user may be authenticated. It is noted that communicationsbetween the protected application 2106 and the authentication computingsystem 2100 may be facilitated through one or more applicationprogramming interfaces 2102. Accordingly, in some embodiments, theauthentication computing system 2100 may generally function as a thirdparty, biometric authentication tool for a variety of websites,applications, and the like.

FIG. 22 illustrates a system flow diagram 2200 for photo cloakingutilizing biometric key generation. In the illustrated embodiment,secret image/text 2204A may be any type of data that a use wishes totransmit in an encrypted format. The system flow also utilizes a coverimage 2202A. At 2206, encryption is performed such that the secretimage/text 2204A is hidden within the cover image 2202A utilizing abiometric/contextual data encryption technique. An examplebiometric/contextual data encryption technique is described in moredetail below with regard to FIG. 23. A stego object 2208 is created thatgenerally comprises the cover image 2202A with the secret image/text2204A embedded in it. The stego object 2208 can then be transmittedthrough a communications network 2210, which can include, for example, apublic network. At 2212, the stego object 2208 can be decrypted usingthe biometric/contextual data key 2210. As a result, a cover image 2204Band secret text 2204B are extracted from the stego object 2208, with thecover image 2204B and secret text 2204B being similar, or identical to,the cover image 2202A and the secret image/text 2204A.

FIG. 23 illustrates an example biometric encryption system flow diagram2300. The system flow diagram generally includes three aspects, namelyan input-side 2302, a network 2304, and a target-side 2306. A variety ofoperational environments can utilize the system flow diagram 2300, suchas a first user operating a first smart phone on the input-side 2302 andcommunicating with a second user operating a second smart phone on thetarget-side 2306. The first and second user may be, for example,chatting using a real-time chatting application utilizing communicationsover the network 2304. Using the systems and methods described herein,the first user can share a document, image, or other type of data fileutilizing the described encryption process. The data file may be sharedin generally real-time using the network 2304. In the illustratedembodiment, the document desired to be shared is shown as a sensitivedocument 2308A. The sensitive document 2308A may be any type of datacapable of being transmitted over a network. Prior to transmitting thesensitive document 2308A, it may be encrypted using an encryption key2310. Generally, the encryption key 2310 enables the sensitive document2308A to be securely shared over a public network and requiring thetarget recipient to provide biometric and contextual data to access thesensitive document 2308A. In the illustrated embodiment, a plurality ofvariants are provided at the input-side 2302 to form the encryption key2310, including a target user location 2312, target biometrics 2314, anda time duration of validity 2316. The target user location 2312 providedmay vary based on implementation. In some cases, a city or address ofthe target is provided. In some cases, latitude and longitudecoordinates are provided. Other implementations may use other techniquesfor identifying a geographic location of a target. The target biometrics2314 can include, for example, an image of the target user stored withina target biometrics database 2318. The target biometrics database 2318can be local to the input side 2302, or hosted by a third party, such asa social networking website, or example. In some embodiments, the targetbiometrics 2314 is an image selected from a digital photo album storedon a user device. In some embodiments, target biometrics 2314 mayinclude the biometrics for N recipients, as described above with regardto FIG. 12. In any event, the encryption key 2310 may then be createdbased on the biometric data of the target along with various forms ofcontextual information. Once the encryption key 2310 key is generated,an encrypted document 2320 may then be transmitted via the network 2304to a user device of the target. In order to retrieve the sensitivedocument, target biometrics are retrieved 2322 (i.e., using a cameraassociated with a user device of the target), target location isretrieved 2324 (i.e, based on GPS data), and a time of access 2326 isdetermined (i.e, based on network time). When the target satisfies theconfidence thresholds associated with all of the various variables, thedocument is decrypted at 2328 and a copy of the sensitive document 2308Bmay be provided to the target. As is to be readily appreciated, theauthentication process at the target-side 2306 can include any ofvarious authentication techniques described herein, such as colorstrobing, livness detection, moving image scans, and so forth.Furthermore, when biometric encryption system flow diagram 2300 is usedwith one-to-many file sharing scenarios, similar to those describedabove, the document may be decrypted at 2328 only after a sufficientnumber of recipients, such as k recipients, provide their biometrics toan authentication engine.

In general, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art thatat least some of the embodiments described herein may be implemented inmany different embodiments of software, firmware, and/or hardware. Thesoftware and firmware code may be executed by a processor or any othersimilar computing device. The software code or specialized controlhardware that may be used to implement embodiments is not limiting. Forexample, embodiments described herein may be implemented in computersoftware using any suitable computer software language type, using, forexample, conventional or object-oriented techniques. Such software maybe stored on any type of suitable computer-readable medium or media,such as, for example, a magnetic or optical storage medium. Theoperation and behavior of the embodiments may be described withoutspecific reference to specific software code or specialized hardwarecomponents. The absence of such specific references is feasible, becauseit is clearly understood that artisans of ordinary skill would be ableto design software and control hardware to implement the embodimentsbased on the present description with no more than reasonable effort andwithout undue experimentation.

Moreover, the processes associated with the present embodiments may beexecuted by programmable equipment, such as computers or computersystems and/or processors. Software that may cause programmableequipment to execute processes may be stored in any storage device, suchas, for example, a computer system (nonvolatile) memory, an opticaldisk, magnetic tape, or magnetic disk. Furthermore, at least some of theprocesses may be programmed when the computer system is manufactured orstored on various types of computer-readable media.

It can also be appreciated that certain process aspects described hereinmay be performed using instructions stored on a computer-readable mediumor media that direct a computer system to perform the process steps. Acomputer-readable medium may include, for example, memory devices suchas diskettes, compact discs (CDs), digital versatile discs (DVDs),optical disk drives, or hard disk drives. A computer-readable medium mayalso include memory storage that is physical, virtual, permanent,temporary, semipermanent, and/or semitemporary.

A “computer,” “computer system,” “host,” “server,” or “processor” maybe, for example and without limitation, a processor, microcomputer,minicomputer, server, mainframe, laptop, personal data assistant (PDA),wireless e-mail device, cellular phone, pager, processor, fax machine,scanner, or any other programmable device configured to transmit and/orreceive data over a network. Computer systems and computer-based devicesdisclosed herein may include memory for storing certain software modulesused in obtaining, processing, and communicating information. It can beappreciated that such memory may be internal or external with respect tooperation of the disclosed embodiments. The memory may also include anymeans for storing software, including a hard disk, an optical disk,floppy disk, ROM (read only memory), RAM (random access memory), PROM(programmable ROM), EEPROM (electrically erasable PROM) and/or othercomputer-readable media.

In various embodiments disclosed herein, a single component may bereplaced by multiple components and multiple components may be replacedby a single component to perform a given function or functions. Exceptwhere such substitution would not be operative, such substitution iswithin the intended scope of the embodiments. Any servers describedherein, for example, may be replaced by a “server farm” or othergrouping of networked servers (such as server blades) that are locatedand configured for cooperative functions. It can be appreciated that aserver farm may serve to distribute workload between/among individualcomponents of the farm and may expedite computing processes byharnessing the collective and cooperative power of multiple servers.Such server farms may employ load-balancing software that accomplishestasks such as, for example, tracking demand for processing power fromdifferent machines, prioritizing and scheduling tasks based on networkdemand and/or providing backup contingency in the event of componentfailure or reduction in operability.

The computer systems may comprise one or more processors incommunication with memory (e.g., RAM or ROM) via one or more data buses.The data buses may carry electrical signals between the processor(s) andthe memory. The processor and the memory may comprise electricalcircuits that conduct electrical current. Charge states of variouscomponents of the circuits, such as solid state transistors of theprocessor(s) and/or memory circuit(s), may change during operation ofthe circuits.

While various embodiments have been described herein, it should beapparent that various modifications, alterations, and adaptations tothose embodiments may occur to persons skilled in the art withattainment of at least some of the advantages. The disclosed embodimentsare therefore intended to include all such modifications, alterations,and adaptations without departing from the scope of the embodiments asset forth herein.

What is claimed:
 1. A computer-based method of authenticating, themethod comprising: receiving a request for authentication of a user,wherein the request for authentication comprises biometric feature ofthe user collected by a user device and contextual data from the userdevice; comparing the biometric feature of the user to baselinebiometric feature of the user; comparing the contextual data to anexpected contextual data value; and determining whether to authenticatethe user based on the comparison of the biometric feature of the user tothe baseline biometric feature of the user and the comparison of thecontextual data to the expected contextual data value.
 2. Thecomputer-based method of authenticating of claim 1, wherein thecontextual data is a machine identification (ID) of the user device. 3.The computer-based method of authenticating of claim 1, wherein thecontextual data is data collected from a sensor of the user device. 4.The computer-based method of authenticating of claim 3, wherein thesensor is any of an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and a magnetometer. 5.The computer-based method of authenticating of claim 1, comprising:receiving an image of the user, the image comprising the biometricfeature, wherein a baseline image includes the baseline biometricfeature.
 6. The computer-based method of authenticating of claim 5,comprising: comparing a first gesture made by the user in the image ofthe user to a second gesture in the baseline image.
 7. Thecomputer-based method of authenticating of claim 6, comprising:comparing a location of the first gesture in the image to a location ofthe second gesture in the baseline image.
 8. The computer-based methodof authenticating of claim 5, comparing a location of a first cameraflash location in the image to a location of a second camera flashlocation in the baseline image.
 9. The computer-based method ofauthenticating of claim 1, wherein the contextual data is a geographicallocation of the user device.
 10. The computer-based method ofauthenticating of claim 1, comprising: transmitting to the user device acolor key, wherein the biometric feature of the user collected by a userdevice comprises a color signature of the user.
 11. The computer-basedmethod of authenticating of claim 10, comprising the color signature ofthe user to a stored color signature of the user.
 12. The computer-basedmethod of authenticating of claim 1, wherein the user device is a firstuser device and the biometric feature is included in a first image,wherein the request for authentication comprises the first image of theuser collected by the first user device and a second image including thebiometric feature of the user collected by a second user device.
 13. Thecomputer-based method of authenticating of claim 12, comprising:comparing the first image of the user to a first baseline image and thesecond image of the user to a second baseline image.
 14. Thecomputer-based method of authenticating of claim 1, wherein the image iscollected during a rotary scan of the user.
 15. A computer-basedauthentication system, comprising: a baseline image database; acontextual data database; an authentication computing system, theauthentication system configured to: receive a request forauthentication of a user from a user device, wherein the request forauthentication comprises an image of the user; and contextual data;compare the image of the user to a baseline image of the user stored inthe baseline image database; compare the contextual data to an expectedcontextual data value stored in the contextual data database; anddetermine whether to authenticate the user based on the comparison ofthe biometric feature of the user to the baseline image of the user andthe comparison of the contextual data to the expected contextual datavalue.
 16. The computer-based authentication system of claim 15, whereinthe contextual data indicates a geographical location of the userdevice.
 17. The computer-based authentication system of claim 15,wherein the contextual data is acceleration data collected from anaccelerometer.
 18. The computer-based authentication system of claim 15,wherein the baseline image comprises a first hand gesture, and whereinthe authentication system configured to compare a second hand gesturemade by the user in the image of the user to the first gesture made bythe user in the baseline image.
 19. The computer-based authenticationsystem of claim 18, wherein the authentication system is configured tocompare a location of the first gesture in the image to a location ofthe second gesture in the baseline image.
 20. A non-transitory computerreadable medium having instructions stored thereon which when executedby a processor cause the processor to: receive a request forauthentication of a user, wherein the request for authenticationcomprises an image of the user collected by a user device; andcontextual data from the user device; compare the image of the user to abaseline image of the user; compare the contextual data to an expectedcontextual data value; and determine whether to authenticate the userbased on the comparison of the biometric feature of the user to thebaseline image of the user and the comparison of the contextual data tothe expected contextual data value.
 21. The non-transitory computerreadable medium of claim 20, wherein the contextual data is ageographical location of the user device.
 22. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 20, wherein the contextual data isgathered by a sensor of the user device.
 23. The non-transitory computerreadable medium of claim 20, wherein the instructions cause theprocessor to compare a first gesture made by the user in the image ofthe user to a second gesture in the baseline image.
 24. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 23, wherein theinstructions cause the processor to compare a location of the firstgesture in the image to a location of the second gesture in the baselineimage.
 25. A non-transitory computer readable medium having instructionsstored thereon which when executed by a processor cause the processorto: receive from a first user device via a network communication anetwork packet comprising an electronic data file and recipientbiometrics; receive from a second user device via network communicationbiometric data obtained from a user of the second user device; and whenthe biometric data obtained from the user of the second user devicematches the recipient biometrics, permit the electronic data file to beaccessed on the second user device.
 26. The non-transitory computerreadable medium of claim 25, wherein the recipient biometrics is afacial image of a recipient.
 27. The non-transitory computer readablemedium of claim 26, wherein the biometric data obtained from the user ofthe second user device is an image of a face of the user of the seconduser device.
 28. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim25, wherein the electronic data file is encrypted based on biometrics ofthe second user and contextual data associated with the second user. 29.The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein therecipient biometrics comprises biometrics from each of a plurality ofrecipients, and wherein the biometric data obtained from a user of thesecond user device comprises biometric data obtained from each of aplurality of users of the second user device.
 30. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 25, wherein the instructions cause theprocessor to permit the electronic data file to be accessed on thesecond user device when the biometric data obtained from each of aplurality of users of the second user device matches correspondingrecipient biometrics received from the first user device.
 31. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein theplurality of recipients comprises N recipients, where N is an integer,and wherein the plurality of users of the second user comprises krecipients.
 32. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 25,wherein k<N.
 33. A method of electronically sharing data, comprising:identifying an electronic file; providing biometrics associated with arecipient; providing contextual data associated with a recipient;causing the electronic file to be encrypted based on the providedbiometrics and the provided contextual data; and causing thetransmission of the encrypted electronic file to the recipient over anelectronic communications network.
 34. The method of electronicallysharing data of claim 33, wherein providing the biometrics associatedwith a recipient comprises selecting a digital image of the recipient'sface.
 35. The method of electronically sharing data of claim 33, whereinproviding contextual data associated with the recipient comprisesidentifying a geographic location of the recipient.
 36. The method ofelectronically sharing data of claim 33, wherein providing biometricscomprises providing biometrics from each of a plurality of recipients.37. The method of electronically sharing data of claim 33, wherein theplurality of recipients comprises N recipients, where N is an integer.